Copyright and the College Student

As an institution of higher education, SUNY Oneonta has a strong interest in protecting copyright.  Our community includes writers, artists, musicians, computer programmers and researchers who are producing original work and deserve to have that work protected from unauthorized use.  We also have a desire to foster the exchange of ideas and maintain an atmosphere of free expression and academic inquiry.  To balance these positions our network is very open – we block only traffic that is known to be malicious or cause network instability, while adopting and enforcing policies such as the Student Code of Conduct  and the Technology Use Policy that require our users to respect copyright.

Copyright refers to the rights retained by the creator of an original work.  The creator or their agent has the right to control the reproduction and distribution of the work.  Copyright is in effect once the work has been fixed in a tangible form – that is, written down, recorded, e-mailed, painted, etc.  How does it concern college students?  Many students look forward to accessing the high bandwidth and open academic configuration of the campus data network for legitimate study.  They may also take advantage of the ability to share files with their peers on the Internet.  If these files happen to be movies, music, software, etc., for which they do not hold the copyright, this activity is illegal.  If you don’t know whether you own the copyright on a work, you probably don’t.  You can read more about copyright here http://www.copyright.gov/ including a very good FAQ with a section on digital files.

DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  Passed in 1998, this act reforms US Copyright Law by (among other things) making it illegal to circumvent copyright protection measures and providing some protection from liability to online service providers.

Under the DMCA, service providers, such as the College, in our case, gain some protection from being sued for copyright infringement when their customers (students and employees) share or use works without permission.  In return, the College responds to “takedown” notices received when material being used in an unauthorized manner is found on our network. 

Recording Industry Association of America and Motion Picture Association of America.  These organizations represent recording artists and movie companies and file complaints against users of P2P networks for copyright infringement.  Most of the notices received at Oneonta come from the RIAA and MPAA but we also receive notices from software companies and TV networks like HBO.

In response to a copyright infringement notice, we locate the computer specified in the complaint and quarantine it from the network and the Internet.  The person to whom the machine is registered is notified via e-mail from the campus Office of Judicial Affairs and must remove the material before network access is restored.  They also risk facing campus judicial action or legal action by the copyright holder.  Students are often surprised to be the subject of a complaint.  Some didn’t realize they were breaking the law and many don’t realize that they are allowing others to access files on their computers.  “Sharing” implies two-way communication.  Most P2P programs enable sharing by default.  Ignorance of copyright law or of the configuration of your software does not excuse you from the penalties if you are caught sharing copyrighted files.

There are many options for students who wish to download movies, music and other files for their personal use.  Some choose to use P2P programs such as Limewire and BitTorrent to find and acquire files from other people on the Internet.  While there are many legitimate uses for filesharing , often users are downloading and sharing illegally.  The College does not condone such activity and responds immediately to any complaints received under the DMCA.  Some programs offer “Pro” versions that promise faster, ad-free searches for a fee – usually around $20.  Don’t be fooled!  Just because you are paying for the program, it doesn’t mean that it is “legitimate” as relates to copyright.  If you are downloading a song from another user’s computer, you are probably violating copyright.  P2P programs only offer the mechanism for sharing files – they take no responsibility regarding the files themselves.  The files may be copyrighted, infected with viruses or bundled with malicious software.

Students can purchase music online at a number of sites.  Two popular choices are iTunes and Napster.  They allow you to purchase or play files for a per item or subscription fee.  Read the terms of use to understand fully what you are buying and how you can play the files. 

There is a free alternative for currently enrolled students. Ruckus is an online service that requires a simple registration with your Oneonta.edu e-mail address.  According to their website, Ruckus offers over 2 million music and movie titles for download.  While Ruckus is not compatible with all computer operating systems or all music players, it is a great option for most Oneonta students.